The Starling Realm
by RemindMeOnceAgain
Summary: Post-Into the Still Blue, Pre-Arrow. Brooke and Clara wake up one day to find that everything they've known is gone– they're not in the Still Blue anymore, and everyone seems different. They're in Starling City, home to Detective Quentin Lance, Oliver Queen, and Tommy Merlyn. How will they survive? Will they find their way home?
1. Author's Note on Under the Never Sky

A/N:

Just some information in case you haven't read the Under the Never Sky Series. Here are some elements I will be using in this fanfic (I might update this as I go along)! I don't think there are spoilers here (more than what you get in the summaries of the books), but read at your own risk if you don't like spoilers.

**Special people:**

A **Seer** is one that can see very well. Brooke and Perry are Seers.  
An **Aud** is one that can hear very well. Aria and Roar are Auds. Aria sings very well. Roar can read one's thoughts if they come into contact with him.  
A **Scire** is one that can smell very well – even smell out one's feelings (called tempers). Perry is one of them.  
*Some have more than one sense, like Perry (a Scire and a Seer).

There were two main groups at the beginning of the series – **Savages/Outsiders** and **Dwellers**. Perry was a Savage. Aria was a Dweller and left Reverie (their society) to go outside, outside the protection of the pods. However, the Aether (see below) was too strong and even Reverie was affected.

**Special relationships:**

**Perry **and** Aria** are the main characters and couple in the trilogy.  
Before **Perry** met Aria, he used to be in a relationship with **Brooke**, but his feelings for her were not truly love.  
**Brooke** and **Soren** met in the third book of the series (I think) and had a cute relationship banter thing between them (well, I ship them).

**Special things:**

**Aether** – like lightning bolts that affect the sky and the land and can incinerate things and destroy stuff.  
**Pods** – the places where the Dwellers lived. They were able to give the people inside virtual realities (Realms) with their eye patches (Smarteyes). 

**Special places:**

The **Still Blue**, or **Cinder**, is the place where there is no Aether, and so people can be safe. This is the final destination the characters wanted to go to.  
**Reverie** is where Dwellers lived, where they were supposedly safe from the Aether.

Let me know if there's something you want me to clarify or if I got something wrong!


	2. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**A/N: Okay... So I love Arrow. And all its fanfiction. And I've got this crazy little idea when I read Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3) where Brooke tells Soren her name is Laurel... which got me thinking... Laurel Lance!? **

**I'm not really sure if there's anyone out there who would like to read more of this... since there's barely ANY fanfiction about Under the Never Sky... let alone crossovers. But if you do like reading this... and want me to continue... sound off in the reviews or PM me! Or, you know, favourite/follow the story/me :) THANK YOU hehehehe :)**

**(And for those waiting for an update to my other story, I'm sorry but it's coming soon!)**

* * *

_**Chapter 1: The Beginning**_

"You know I could only smile when you do," Soren grinned mischievously.

Brooke narrowed her eyes at him, but she could barely conceal the grin forming across her face. The two had grown closer over the past year, and though she hated to admit it, she liked him. Quite a bit, actually. She wondered why. There really wasn't much to like...

Soren continued to chase her down the beach, jumping into the clear blue water when Brooke came too close.

"Give that back to me!" she threatened, jumping into the water as well, splashing water onto him as she did.

"I can swim better than you now, you know," he replied, swimming away from her and making great motions with his hands as he did so.

"Now you're really asking for it, show-off!" She laughed, swimming after him.

Reaching him, she wrapped an arm around his waist and reached for the object. "Give it back–" Before she could snatch it out of his arms, Soren screamed and threw it back onto the shore. He turned around in Brooke's grasp and held her against his chest.

"What did you say?" he asked smugly.

"That you're a lousy swimmer," she smirked.

He leaned down and brushed some hair behind her ear. "I've been told I'm a better kisser though," he smirked back.

Brooke looked up at Soren's choice of words. Seer that she is, she could easily tell what he was really feeling from his genuine eyes. "_We'll see about that_," she grinned, as she put her hand around his neck and placed a solid kiss on his lips but quickly pulled away.

"I think I'm still the better kisser here," Brooke said, as Soren stood dumbfounded that Brooke actually _kissed _him. "And by the way, you scream like a girl," Brooke said as she squirmed away and swam back onto the shore.

"Really? How do you scream?" Soren smiled, seemingly recovered from the kiss.

"Not as nice as Aria's scream, I can tell you that." Brooke shook herself dry as reached shore and picked up the object.

"Well, of course I know that. But..." He reached out suddenly and started to tickle her. Brooke shrieked in surprise.

"Oh, it's so on," she laughed and tickled him back.

It was days like this that Brooke could almost - _almost_ forget the past and love the future. She could almost imagine the perfect world they would live in. It's been a year and it's been perfect so far. How was she supposed to know that perfect never lasts long?

—

"Brooke, wake up," a small whisper interrupted her musings. "Brooke... Brookie!"

"What?" Brooke said, narrowing her eyes. "I wasn't sleeping." That _did not_ feel like a dream. It was too perfect. All she had were nightmares.

"Yes, you were. We both were."

Brooke looked up at the small but firm voice. "Then why did you wake me up?" She groaned. She closed her eyes again, waiting for the answer that never came.

Something wasn't right. She sat up with a jolt. "Clara, why did you wake me up?"

"We're not in the Still Blue – I mean, Cinder – anymore," her sister whispered. It was only then that Brooke discerned the slight tremble in her voice. Her eyes shot around the room they were in. It was lightly furnished with a strange-looking table and chair, as if wanting to give a semblance of home, but looking so completely dark and foreign that Brooke didn't know what to do. Wherever she and Clara were… it definitely wasn't the straw house they built together. It might not even be in the same _universe_ as the straw house they built together.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Brooke half-shouted. "And why are we whispering?"

"Because I'm scared, Brooke. What if - what if Hess didn't die and we were all in a… a Realm all this time and now we're just waking up to find that everything was just a dream – the Still Blue, Cinder, Aria, Perry, everything? What if they were just testing the different Realms or pods or multiple Alternate Universes and we just happened to be in one of them? What if - what do we do then, Brookie?"

Brooke didn't miss the way Clara called her nickname. Clara rarely called her that anymore, ever since she turned nine. "Slow down, whoa, slow down. You're not making any sense. What's an alternate universe anyway? Aria tell you that?"

"She said–"

"Well, stop listening to her stories from the pods. They aren't true anymore. We're safe, sweetie. Maybe _this _is a dream," Brooke tried to calm her sister down with Aria's kind of reasoning. Brooke knew though, that it wasn't a dream. Her dreams consisted of running away or fighting people harming her sister. Not dreams about dreaming.

Brooke tapped the pale white walls. They seemed hollow outside. How thick the walls were, she wouldn't know. She wasn't an Aud, after all. There wasn't a window anywhere for her to get her bearings. Neither was there a crack anywhere. There was no bed, no toilet, just the door, a table and a chair. She considered breaking the door open with the table, building some kind of weapon with the chair, or doing something, _anything_. She glanced down at Clara, who was almost starting to shiver with worry. _Clara wouldn't be ready for a fight, or even an escape, _Brooke thought._ Not yet, anyway. Let's just see what comes out of this… place._

"Clara? Let's just go back to sleep," Brooke made a show of rubbing her eyes. "I'm sure everything will be fine when we wake up. 'Kay?"

"'Kay," she sniffed. "Can I sleep with you, Brookie?"

"Sure. It's not like we have a bed in here anyway," she scoffed.

They lay on the floor together, Clara cuddling up to her. Brooke couldn't help but think about the times they did that before they found the Still Blue. _I'm glad she's not an Aud or a Scire_, Brooke thought silently. _I can't stand her sensing that I'm scared too._

She waited for her younger sister's breathing to slow and let herself drift into a light sleep as well.

—

Brooke woke up to a slight creak from the left side of the room. She glanced around – Clara was still in her arms, and they were still in the same room. She wanted to curse. Whatever this was, she didn't like it.

"Clara, sweetie. Wake up," Brooke urged.

"Brookie?" Clara mumbled. "We're still in this room?"

"Yes, Clara," Brooke said. "Now we're going to get out of here, alright? Just like you got out of Reverie."

Clara paled at the mention of Reverie. "Okay, Brookie, just don't leave me."

"I won't, I promise."

The left side of the room creaked again, and suddenly the door opened. A man, about 40 years old, stepped in.

"Hi, girls. I'm Detective Lance, Starling City Police Department," he said in a kind but gruff voice. "Care to tell me your names?"

Brooke shot up, narrowing her eyes at him while using an arm to put Clara behind her. "Do not hurt us, or I _will_ hurt you," she growled.

"Easy, easy there, sweetheart. I'm not about to hurt you or your sister," he chuckled. "We know from watching you two after you woke up that your names are Brooke and Clara. That's about it. You suddenly appeared in one of the jail cells – we certainly wouldn't put any child there–"

"I'm not a child."

"I can see that–"

"And don't call me sweetheart."

"Okay then. Brooke. And Clara. Correct?"

Clara nodded while Brooke didn't flinch from her stance, taking the time to scout the outside area where he stepped in from – looking for a way to escape.

"We couldn't tell who you were. You have no records, your clothes have no tags on them for me to check the purchases and find where you come from – I'm not even sure they were bought. Some of them thought you were just unfortunate visitors forgotten inside the cell," Lance chuckled at this, "while others were scared that you were spies or assassins or... something worse," Lance said softly, all the while watching both their reactions. Brooke, he noticed, was looking behind him, most likely forming an escape route already. The girl was obviously trained.

He continued. "I have a daughter of my own and I ain't letting you girls be given that sort of treatment. So for now, you're staying at my place until you can tell us more about yourself, then we'll get you home. Is that a deal?"

Brooke looked down at Clara, who had her eyes closed and was humming to herself, a telltale sign that she was very scared. She observed Lance's eyes and his posture, considering the deal. She could tell that he was sincere, but there were hints of doubt and readiness. _This better be the right decision_, she mumbled to herself and with a quick nod, indicated to Detective Lance that they had a deal.

"Great, Brooke. Thank you. Would you two like something to eat?" he asked.

"Sure," was Brooke's curt reply.

"Okay. Anything you'd like in particular?

"No."

"Great. Pizza and chicken it is."

With that, Lance gestured for the two to follow him out the room. Clara finally opened her eyes at the mention of chicken. "Brookie?" she whispered. "Don't leave, okay?"

"Yes. I promise," Brooke smiled and gently held her hand, even though her mind was swirling with questions and the thought of jumping Detective Lance for the answers to them.

—


	3. Chapter 2: Home

_**Chapter 2: Home**_

The chicken was delicious, apart from the fact that it was a bit on the salty side. And the piece of toasty bread with toppings on top – that wasn't half bad either. The only problem was the conversation Lance kept trying to start. Brooke wasn't going to give him an iota of information until she was sure he could be trusted, but Clara had other ideas once her growling stomach was tamed. Well, people did say the way to one's heart was through the stomach.

"So tell me where you're from, Clara," Lance said inconspicuously while taking a big bite out of his piece of chicken. Brooke, who refused to let her or her sister eat any of the food until Lance had tried it.

"Well… we live in Cinder," Clara answered before Brooke could tell her to shut up.

"Is that so. I've never heard of it," Lance replied. Brooke knew that this probably was a trap to find out where it was – if not, how could Lance not have heard of the Still Blue? Was he not affected by the Aether? Wouldn't they die by its lightning strikes unless they were at the Still Blue?

"It's this place where –"

"It's where we've been for the past year," Brooke said, before Clara could give any more information.

"I see. And which city was this in?"

Awkward silence ensued.

"You mean pod? We didn't live in pods –" Clara tried to say, as she poked at her chicken when Brooke finally let her take a piece.

"No, no, not pods, what were you, frogs? I mean city, you know, like we're in Starling City now."

_Okay,_ Brooke thought,_ so he's willing to give out information about where we are._

"Oh, I don't know," Clara said, "Cinder was the Still Blue. That was our city, I guess. The Cinder City," she giggled.

"And were your parents there? What are their names?"

"No, they weren't there," Brooke said, and left it at that.

Lance didn't know how to continue. He knew his questioning wouldn't get him anywhere. His heart ached for these two girls, even though he'd only known them for less than an hour. His gut told him they weren't bad, just misinformed. They were healthy, too, so it wasn't child abuse. Whatever happened to these girls, he may never find out – but he was going to take care of them no matter what the cost. He'll have to go through his supervisor then child services and what not, but – Sara's always wanted sisters. Even if they were only temporary ones.

"I'll see what I can do for you," he told them.

An hour later, they were out of their cell. Lance had called in some favors and nobody wanted two young girls in a maximum-security prison cell, after all.

* * *

Brooke and Clara sat side by side in the car. Not that they knew what a car was, apart from the fact that it moved on four wheels. Brooke didn't want to hurt Clara if she opened the door and tried to escape from the moving car – it was much faster than a horse and everyone knew how much it hurt falling from a moving one. And she wouldn't know where to go if they did escape. But at least she could see where the car was going in case there was ever any trouble.

Clara, on the other hand, was fascinated by everything she could see. Lights – not made by fire. Sounds – everywhere. Moving things – powered by themselves! Who wouldn't be amazed by the wonders of electricity?

Lance stopped the car at the front of their house. A girl, Clara's age, came rushing out into his arms.

"Daddy!" she shrieked.

"Hi, sweetheart. I've got a surprise for you," he motioned to the car, as the two girls inside looked curiously out the window. He opened the door and Brooke helped Clara out.

She narrowed her eyes. "Where are we, Lance?"

"Who are these, Daddy?" Sara asked at the same time.

"Hey, hey, one question at a time, girls. Sara, this is Brooke, Clara. They'll be your new sisters for the time being."

"I never agreed to this, Lance."

"Well, you're underage. Now come inside," he ushered the three girls in. Sara was already talking animatedly to Clara and bringing her to her room, while Brooke was still glaring at them. Lance could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

"What do you want, Lance? Why are you bringing us here?" Brooke asked after her sister was out of earshot.

"Relax, Brooke. You're safe. You're at my house. I've adopted you. For now, anyway – until, of course, we can find your home and go home."

"That's not an answer."

"Well," Lance sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, realizing that Brooke may be tougher than he had initially thought. "As I said before. We don't know where you're from, we don't know how you got here, we don't know where you'll go –"

"We can find our way ourselves."

"And do you have any money? Where will you get food?"

"We can hunt."

Lance scoffed. "Hunt? In Starling? There isn't an animal here that you can eat! You don't have any weapons, any connections, you can't even take the bus!"

Brooke registered that a bus was a mode of transportation. "We can walk," she replied.

"Are you just that stubborn? What's wrong with staying here, with a good family, with good food, and an education –"

"I don't know you."

"Well, neither do I. But I'm trying to help you here, Brooke, and if you don't want it, at least let Clara stay and have a decent life."

It was Brooke's time to scoff. "Do you really think I'm going to leave my sister here to a stranger I have only known for two hours?"

It was a rhetorical question. Lance stayed silent, letting Brooke think about the answer herself. He didn't miss the fact that she was keeping time well, though.

Brooke looked at Lance's eyes. They were sincere like before, but calculating. He was smart. But he was safe. "Alright. On two conditions. You do _not_ hurt us, in any way. Ever."

"Why would I hurt you, Brooke?" Lance walked over to her and embraced her. Brooke stiffened. "And the other condition?" Lance asked, not letting her go.

"You help us find our way home."

Brooke pulled away from the hug, not noticing Lance's expression. _I hope one day, Brooke, if you can't find your home – you could learn to call this home._


End file.
